Just read it and thank me later. Enough said. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone owning rural land.

Clearly written by a practitioner rather than a desk jockey the book details how one can harness available plant life, including weeds, to promote fertility via mulching. When coupled with mechanical repairs of degraded land structures regenerate so called dead land into fertile pastures and forests.

Whilst there is some repetition in the book this appears to stem from passion as opposed to limited writing ability. Also included is a historical narrative on Australia's land degradation which runs counter to the accepted revised history that the Australian Aboriginals were custodians of the land.

The methods described in the book form what was later named Peter Andrews 'Natural Sequence Farming'. ( )

Ths book made a profound change to our thinking on our property. We had been long term anti-chemical farmers, but had a conventional view of weeds, which we now know are actually beneficial for soil content.

We are now slashing the native grasses to form a mulch layer, have trees of many varieties ready to plant to battle the eucalypt monoculture and are seeing the return of wildflowers in larger numbers.

Rather than get rid of fallen timber, it is now being used to slow water down potential erosion gullies, allowing the water to drift rather than rush, letting soil gather against the timber to create tiers down these slopes, which has happened very quickly.

We are encouraging the growth of rushes in the creeks, rather than the clear unhindered flow that conventionally damages the creek banks.

Andrew's thought process will not be for the many conventional farmers locked into the system, but it suits us perfectly and we consider this a must read book for anyone who loves their land. ( )